Smoke-house



J. PRICE.

SMUKE HOUSE.

(No Model.)

...ill-I Patented Sept. 29, 1885. F29- Mmmm a Vn v 771,'6 nem: ed.'

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N. PETERS. Pnmmagnpnar, wnhmmn. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN PRICE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SMOKE-HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 327,453, dated September 29, 1885;

Application tiled May 8, i884. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN PRICE, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illi-` nois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Smoke-Houses; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof, reference Vbeing had to the accompanying drawings, and

the interior chamber of the smoke-house, said iiue being extended longitudinally in a tortuous course upon or beneath the door of the said chamber, so that the heat given off by the smoke and other products of combustion passing through it may be utilized to heat the chamber for the purpose of properly drying the meats preparatory to smoking them. By the use of such flue also an extended passage 1s formed, whereby the smoke is desirably cooled before being discharged into the chamber, and danger of fire by reason of eX- treme heat or of sparks in the smoke passing to the chamber avoided.

The smoke passage above mentioned, as herein shown, is preferably constructed of masonry, of which the bottom or floor ofthe chamber is composed, the said passage being formed by a series of fines arranged side by side and connected at their ends,so as to afford a continuous passage through them. The said tlue, as herein shown, also preferably communicates with the interior of the smoke-house by means of a valved opening or openings, and is provided with a valved exit-pipe extending to the open air, so that, by properly arranging the valves controlling the said openings in ther exit pipe, the smoke from the furnace may either be discharged into the open air through said exit-pipe, as is desirable when the meats are being dried preparatory to smok ing them, or permitted to enter the chamber through the said openings. The exit-pipe, as herein shown and desirably constructed, is extended upwardly through the interior of the smoke-house7 so that the heat given off by the said pipe may be utilized in drying the meats therein.

The invention also embraces au improved construction in a smoke-house having two chambers, as hereinafter more particularly described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a smokehouse embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan section of the same, taken upon line x x of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the iire-boX and lines beneath the floor of the chamber, taken upon line fy y of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of a part of the door of the smoke-house, showing the upper ends of the openings connecting the flue with the interior of the smoke-house and valves for controlling the said openings. Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical section taken upon line a: x of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a plan view of another form of smoke-house, having a portion of the floor broken away to show the flue thereof.

The smokehouse shown in the accompanying drawings as embodying my invention, is rectangular in plan view,and has four exterior walls, A, a floor, B, and a roof, B', the latter being provided with aperatures U, for the exit of smoke from vthe interior of the structure. The smoke-house shown is constructed in the usual manner, of considerably greater height than width, so as to form a high and narrow chamber or chambers, in which the meats are placed and subjected to the action of smoke introduced near the door of the chamber or chambers, and which rises between and about the hams or pieces of meat and makes its exit at the openingsb. In theform of structureshown in Figs. l, 2, and 3 the space within the walls A is divided into twoparts or chambers, C and C', by means of a transverse partition-wall,A, said chambers being provided in the usual manner with doors C2, through which the meats may be inserted and removed, and also with a series of movable horizontal bars, c, which rest at their ends upon stationary strips IOO c at either side of the chambers, and which are provided with hooks c2, upon which the meats to be cured are hung.

Centrally beneath the iloor Bof t-he smokehouse is placed afurnace, D,prei'erably formed by side walls, d, extending inwardly at right angles from one side of the structure, and which communicates at its rear end with ues E,located at either side of said furnace beneath the chambers C and C. The said iiues preferably terminate at their outer ends in passages F,which extend around the structure adjacent to the outer walls thereof, and are provided with valved openings f, through which the smoke from the flues E is delivered to the chambers.

The tlues E are, as herein shown, preferably formed by means of walls @,which are arranged parallel with each other and with the side walls, d, of the tire-box and walls e and e2 at right angles thereto,the walls e2 being arranged transversely ofthe walls d of the lire-box, at the rear of the latter, and parallel with the exterior wall ofthe structure, so as to form parts of the passage F, above referred to.

In the form of the device shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 8 the walls e, forming the :tlues E, are arranged symmetrically at either side of the iire-box,and the openings E', between the rear ends ofthe walls D and the walls e2, by which the smoke and products of combustion pass from the said tire-box and tlue E, are provided with valves c3, whereby all of the said smoke and products of combustion may be permitted to pass into the flue beneath one of the chambers, or a greater or less proportionate quantity of them to either tlue, as desired. In this form of device, also, the passage F is divided at a point midway of the structure and at the rear of t-he lire-box by means of a partitionwall, f, so that the tlues and passages under the chambers are separate, and may be independently regulated and controlled.

In order to permit the immediate escape of smoke from the iues E to the open air when it is desired to heat one of the chambers for the purpose of drying the meats contained therein preparatory to smoking them, pipes G G are provided, said pi pes,as herein shown. being connected with the passages F, at either side of the structure, and provided with valves or dampers g g', by which the pipes may be closed when the smoke is to be delivered into the chambers. The pipes G and G are preferably extended upwardly through the chambers C and G, so that the heat given olf thereby may be utilized in heating the said chambers for the purpose of drying the meats.

To the pipes G and G', at points above the ioor of the structure, are preferably connected horizontal iiues or pipes G2 G3, the iiue G2, which is connected with the stack G in the chamber C', being extended through the partition-wall A', and into the chamber C', and provided with a series of exit-apertures, g2, and the pipe G3 being connected with the stack G in the chamber G, and extending through the partitionwall Ainto the chamber C', and similarly provided with exit-apertures g3. The pipes G'l and G3 are provided at a point near the stacks G and G with dampers or valves g g5, the parts of the pipes Gl and G3 adjacent to the pipes G and G, as herein shown, being arranged parallel with the front and rear walls of the structure, so that the rods g and gl of the dampers may be extended outwardly through said walls, and the dampers thereby operated from the exterior of the building.

The apertures f, connecting the passages F with the chambers C and G, are provided with suitable valves or dampers, H, preferably connected together by dev ices constructed in such manner that they may all be operated at once from the exterior of the building, as will be hereinafter more particularly described.

In the operation of curing meats placed in one of the chambers the several valves Htherein are closed, as is also the valve in one of the pipes, as G2, connected with the pipe, as G, passing through said chamber, andthe valve, as g, in the latter pipe is opened, thus permitting the escape of smoke to the outer air while the meats are being dried by the upper current of warm air in the chamber caused by the heat from the flue in the floor thereof. dried the valve g is closed and the valves H are opened, thus permitting the desired intlow of smoke to the chamber.

' It is obvious that by closing one or the other of the dampers e3 between the furnace and the flue E all the smoke and products of combustion from said furnace may be caused to pass beneath the door of one of the chambers, and one chamber only thus operated at a time. When both ofthe chambers C C are in operation, however, one of them is preferably used for drying at the time the meat is being smoked in t-he other, and the purpose of the pipes G2 G3, before described, is to carry the smoke and products of combustion that have passed beneath the iioor of one chamber for the purpose of heating the latter into the opposite chamber, and thereby preventing the waste of the smoke by its exit to the outer air. Vhen, for instance, meat is being dried in the chamber C and smoked in the chamber C', the several valves will be placed in the position indicated in Fig. 2, the valve H, as therein shown, being closed to prevent the escape of smoke into the chamber, the valveg in the stack being also closed to prevent the escape of the smoke to the outer air, and the valve gi in the pipe G3 being open to allow the smoke, after having passed through the iiues beneath the chamber C, to enter the chamber C', wherein it is utilized together with the smoke entering the chamber from the openings.

rlhe several valves H, for controlling the passages f, preferably consist, as herein shown, and illustrated more clearly in Figs. 4: and 5,

of iat metal plates or disks, constructed to rest After the meat has been sufficiently IOO IIO

in a slide upon the surface of the floor B, and operated by means of rods H, the means of attachment of the disks withV the rods herein shown consisting of lugs or prominences h upon the disks, provided with horizontal apertures for the rods, and with set-screws h, whereby the disks may be clamped at desired points thereon.

The rods mentioned are preferably held in stationary guides H2, fixed in the floor B, and each rod is attached to the series of disks located at one side of the chamber. The rods H may be extended at their ends through the wall of the chamber and provided with handles whereby they may be moved and the passages f thereby controlled from the outside of the structure. Preferably, however, the adjacent ends of the. rods in each of the chambers are connected at the corners thereof with bell-crank levers H3, pivoted to the oors of the chambers so as to swing in a horizontal plane, and which are so arranged that the longitudinal movement of the rod at one side of the chamber will produce a corresponding longitudinal movement of the other rod or rods connected with it.

The several rods, connected as above described, are in the form of device herein shown operated from the exterior of the structure by means of a rod, h3, attached to one of 'the bell-crank levers and extended outwardly through the wall of the chamber, said rod, as shown in Fig. 4, preferably being connected with a lever, h, fulcrumed to a stationary arm, h5, whereby said rod may be moved and all the disks in the chamber shifted at once.

The valves or dampers e3, for closing the openings between the flues E and the furnace, are preferably operated, as herein shown, by

means of rods et, which are extended through the front wall of the building near the furnace-opening, so that they may be in convenient reach of the person attending to the iire.

In the construction shown in the drawings, also, the openings b in the roof of the structure for the exit of smoke from the chambers C and C are preferably provided with valves or dampers b b', for controlling said openings andthereby regulating the movement of smoke through the chambers, and consequently the draft ofthe fire, at times when the products of combustion therefrom are discharged into the chambers. The said rods are operated by rods b2 b2, extending horizontally beyond the outer wall of the building and provided with cross-arms and ropes, by which the said dampers may be operated from the ground.

An important advantage of the construction in the two-chambered kiln above described is, that by using the smoke from the flue beneath the chamber which is being heated in the chamber in which the meats are being smoked a great saving of fuel is effected.

I claim as my invention* l. The combination, in a smoke-house, of a furnace and a series of parallel connected flues, E, located beneath the door of the chamber and forming a tortuous smoke passage, a valved opening or openings connecting the smoke-passage with the chamber, and avalved passage connecting the said smoke-passage with the open air, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a smoke-house having two chambers, G and C', of a furnace and a separate smoke-flue located beneath the floor of each of the said chambers, and communieating with the said furnace and chambers by valved openings, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, in a smoke-house having two chambers divided by a partition-wall, of a central furnace, D, smoke-fines E, arranged beneath the iioors of the chambers and communieating therewith by valved openings, a pipe, G, in communication with one of the flues E, and extending upwardly through one of said chambers to the open air, a damper, g, in saidpipe, a pipe, G3, extending from the pipe Gthrough the said partition-wall and opening into the adjoining chamber, a valve in said pipe G3, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN PRICE.

Vitnesses:

C. CLARENCE PooLn, OLIVER E. PAGIN. 

